HI-TRANSFER

There seem to be more rumors circulating lately about YouTube’s content policies than there are about Jennifer’s baby bump, so we’d like to clarify a few misconceptions.

Myth #1: YouTube pre-screens the videos that you upload.

Truth: 48 hours of video are uploaded to YouTube every minute. It’s not possible to proactively review this much content. Believe us. And even if it were, it would be far less effective than deploying all of you—our global community—to help us identify videos that potentially violate our Community Guidelines. You all have really stepped up to the task, flagging thousands upon thousands of videos every day. After you flag videos, YouTube staff review them against our Community Guidelines. If they violate our Guidelines, they come down. If they don’t, they stay up, sometimes with an age-restriction.

Myth #2: If I repeatedly flag a video, it will come down.

Truth: No matter how many times you flag Baby, it will not come down. It’s been flagged. We’ve reviewed it. And it does not violate our Community Guidelines. If you’ve considered spearheading a flagging campaign to bring down a video you don’t like, save yourself the time. Videos that don’t violate our Guidelines simply won’t be taken off the site for policy reasons.

Myth #3: If I flag a video, the uploader will know who I am.

Truth: We do not reveal any of your personal information when you flag content for a Community Guidelines violation.

Myth #4: If I inaccurately report content that I genuinely believe violates YouTube’s policies, my account will be terminated.

Truth: People who flag in good faith will not be penalized for inaccurately reporting content. That said, if you’re looking to improve your flagging skills, take a minute to review our Community Guidelines.

Myth #5: If my video is removed for a Community Guidelines violation, that’s the end of the story.

Truth: We have a video appeals process that allows users to appeal a video strike if they disagree with our team’s decision. Our reviewers are human too. We review a lot of content, and we occasionally make mistakes. We aim to keep these mistakes to a minimum and try to fix any errors we may have made.

Myth #6: If someone puts an embarrassing or otherwise sensitive video of me on YouTube, it will remain on the site forever.

Truth: Whether you’re singing karaoke or riding the mechanical bull at a bar, we all do things we’d rather not have broadcasted to the world. If a video contains your image or other personal information and you didn’t consent to it, you can submit a privacy removal request.

Myth #7: YouTube censors art.

Truth: We support free expression and want YouTube to be a place where artists can showcase their work, even if that work contains some skin. We don’t typically allow nudity that’s sexual in nature. If your video contains nudity and you clearly explain the artistic, educational, or scientific context, it may stay up with an age-restriction. What do we mean by context?

Myth #8: It’s a good idea to include tags like ‘Lady Gaga’ and ‘Double Rainbow’ in my video title and description even if they’re unrelated to my video.

Truth: Tags are meant to help users find relevant videos. It’s not cool to use unrelated tags to try to trick people into watching your video. Select tags that accurately describe your video. If you do take the low road, your video will likely be struck for misleading metadata.

Myth #9: We [YouTube’s Policy Team] are robots.

Truth: We are in fact real people equipped with brains, hearts and strong moral compasses. As cheesy as it may sound, we don’t just do this job because we get paid to watch videos all day; we do it because we care about YouTube and want you to have a positive experience on our site.

Amanda Conway, Policy Associate, recently watched “Flight of the Conchords: Robot Song (HBO).”

Because YouTube is a platform for free expression of all sorts, we take great care when we enforce our Community Guidelines. We try to allow as much content as possible on the site and still ensure that the rules are followed. It is a delicate balancing act, and we depend on our uploaders to help.

Let us explain. Check out the two videos below. Notice anything different between them? Same content, right? Not quite.

Video #1

Video #2

While the difference may appear insignificant, the context of the two videos is very different. In this case, the first video provides very little information, or context, about what the video is about, while the second video is much more instructive. Why does this matter? Because the video alone doesn’t always tell the whole story. A video’s title, description and tags are critical in how we apply our Community Guidelines.

It’s a balancing act. As you can see in the video examples above, it’s difficult to understand the intention of the uploader without the proper context. Why does understanding the intention of the uploader important? Well, generally speaking, nudity or graphic content is not allowed on YouTube. However, we do have exceptions for educational, documentary, scientific, and artistic content. In order for us to determine whether an exception applies, we need your help. The more information you provide, the clearer your intentions will be.

Give as much context as possible. Your video’s title, description and tags are a great way to provide context to your videos. When our team reviews flagged content, titles or tags like “performance art piece" or "street riot in Jakarta" helps us understand the context of the material you're uploading.

Here are some tips on how to surround your videos with as much context as possible:

• Provide an informative, relevant title.
• Try to add some specific information into the description: who is in the video, what is happening, where and when did it happen, and why.
• If you have a website (or know of one) that provides more detail about the content, such as a related news story or artist statement, feel free to direct viewers to it.
• Think about your audience. What are you trying to accomplish through your content? Help inform and educate the viewer.
• You can also add detail directly onto the video itself, using our annotations tool.
• Even if you’re uploading from your phone, we ask that you try to provide as much context as possible.

But remember, there’s still a line. Keep in mind that certain content is still not okay. Don’t post footage that is highly focused on nudity or graphic content, or create montages from otherwise acceptable sources to supplant its original intent. Don’t try to circumvent your way around our Community Guidelines or look for loopholes.

Everyone makes mistakes. If your content is removed from the site and you feel it was in error, you have the ability to appeal the decision. To learn more about the appeal process, check out this page in our Help Center. And remember, context is king. The more detail you provide viewers upfront, the more likely everyone will understand your intent and the less likely it could be removed.

We hope this post gives you more insight into how we review content on YouTube. Our mission is to empower our users to share, educate, entertain and inform. Help us help you in that goal.

Amy Wright, Policy Specialist, recently watched "WILDFIRE (Segment)."